The present invention relates to an electronic money card and an apparatus handling an electronic money card, and in particular, to an electronic money card of an electronic money type in which a token type and a value type are mixed, to an electronic money system handling the electronic money card, and to an apparatus for use with the electronic money card in the electronic money system.
Attention has been recently attracted to electronic commerce (EC). In such commercial systems, an electronic money system using an IC card is about to be put to practice in which electronic money can be used in a store existing on a network such as the Internet and an actual store. Electronic money systems using IC cards are classified into systems of "closed loop type" and "open loop type" on one hand and into those of "token type" and "value type" on the other hand.
One of the problems associated with practical uses of such electronic money systems of the IC card type is prevention of money laundering for money illegally gained. ("Money laundering" is conducted so that any traces of the dubious money are erased and the money is beyond the reach of the police.) In the electronic money system of the closed loop type, when a transaction is achieved by a store and a financial institution or facility such as a bank with an electronic money card, personal transaction history recorded in the electronic money card is transferred to a computer of the bank. Since personal information is accumulated in the bank, there exists a fear of invasion of privacy. Moreover, a large volume of transaction history is transmitted via terminal devices and automatic transaction machines of stores and a network to the computer of the bank, to be accumulated as transaction history in a recording apparatus of the computer. Consequently, there arises a problem of increase in cost for communication, processing, and accumulation of information. In the electronic money system of the open loop type, the personal history is not acquired by the computer of the bank when a transaction is achieved by an electronic money card. Therefore, the invasion of privacy is prevented and the problems related to the communication, processing, and accumulation cost can be avoided. However, there also remains the problem of how to trace the electronic money transported for the money laundering.
On the other hand, in the electronic money system of the value type, the balance of electronic money in the electronic money card is managed only in accordance with the value (amount). Namely, this system is quite simple and can be easily put to practice. However, since only the amount of payment or receipt is recorded in the transaction history of the electronic money card, the tracing of electronic money transported causes difficulties.
In the electronic money system of the token type, the electronic money balance is managed by the issuance number of each electronic bill. That is, the transaction history includes the bill issuance numbers and hence the transported electronic money can be easily traced. However, since the minimum unit of money is one yen for the bill issuance number, the cost of accumulating the transaction history in the electronic money card is increased and the processing time is accordingly elongated. Consequently, this system is unsuitable for practice.